President-elect Trump announced appointments to the Treasury Department and ambassadors to two European countries.
In several Truth Social posts Thursday, Trump outlined who would work alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and who he would select as ambassador to Spain and the Netherlands.
Trump nominated Ken Keys as assistant secretary for tax policy. A tax attorney with nearly 50 years of experience, Kies served as chief of staff to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.
He chose Alexandra Preate as Bessent’s next senior attorney. Trump said Freight “worked closely with my longtime economic advisors, Dr. Arthur B. Laffer and Stephen Moore, as well as former National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow.” He said.
Hunter McMaster was appointed as Director of Policy Planning.
Trump chose Daniel Katz, a senior fellow at the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute, to be the department’s chief of staff. Katz previously served as a senior advisor at the Treasury Department.
Katz will be represented by Samantha Schwab, who worked in the White House Counsel’s Office during Trump’s first term, and Cora Alvi, who was deputy national finance director during his presidential campaign.
Samantha Schwab is the granddaughter of billionaire Charles Schwab, founder of brokerage firm The Charles Schwab Corporation. Schwab, a financial executive, donated to various Republican candidates and political action committees (PACs) during the 2024 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
President Trump described him as “an incredibly hard-working patriot who will work tirelessly to make America great again.”
President Trump announced Thursday that he has nominated Cuban-American businessman Benjamin Leon Jr. to serve as ambassador to Spain. Leon Jr. has made a name for himself in the healthcare and wellness industry.
According to the FEC report, Leon Jr. donated at least $2 million during the 2024 election cycle to Make America Great Again Inc., a Super PAC affiliated with the Trump 47 Committee and the president-elect.
The president-elect chose Joe Popolo Jr. to be the next U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. He is the founder and CEO of Charles & Potomac Capital, LLC, a private investment firm based in Dallas.
“Joe is a successful businessman and philanthropist in many fields. For over 20 years, he helped transform The Freeman Company into the world’s leading live event brand experience company,” Trump wrote.
